“Software Wars” map
Steven Hilton has drawn up a map of "the epic struggle of Free Software against Microsoft". While I don’t think that the struggle for Free Software is against Microsoft per se, the map sure is fun to look at.
Jeremy Allison leaves Novell in protest over Microsoft agreement
Samba developer Jeremy Allison has resigned from his position at Novell, as Groklaw reports. He states that he is taking this step to protest against that company’s infamous patent agreement with Microsoft: "Whilst the Microsoft patent agreement is in place there is *nothing* we can do to fix community relations. And I really mean nothing," Read more »
Some US firms “losing patience” over European patent system
In Brussels at "the genuine paneuropean IP summit" (what, no trademark? C’mon, you can do better!), a few large US companies and their lawyers have called for the reform, extension, upward harmonization and so forth of the EU’s patent system. With civil society safely excluded by attendance fees of EUR 1.500 (bring two IPdroids, get Read more »
Asterisk VoIP book in “beta test”
The author of a howto book about the free Asterisk VoIP software invites all and sundry to review his work before publication. Heise.de reports that German Asterisk consultant Stefan Wintermeyer has put the book up on his website, and is asking for bug reports. (Sorry, all in German.) He’s going even further: The whole book, Read more »
Free Software for sustainable development: Case studies released
It’s a common argument that Free Software lends itself especially well to developing countries. "Breaking Barriers", a new publication by the UN Development Program supports this claim by presenting 14 case studies about sustainable development projects based on Free Software: Over the last few years, as FOSS has matured and become more widely accepted, many Read more »
Microsoft-Novell deal highlights difference between Free Software and “open source”
Much has been written already about the deal between Microsoft and Novell, and I don’t need to replicate it here. Just now, Andrew Orlowski posted a piece on The Register (yes, I know, don’t worry: some day I’ll get back to citing other sources again) that describes how this tie-up logically follows precisely that "open Read more »
Kid’s book about DRM
Wow, this one is great. A Canadian programmer and artist got so pissed off about his government indoctrinating grade school children about the sanctity of copyright, that he decided to do something about it. He drew and wrote a children’s book. It’s about how you can share things that you don’t lose when you give Read more »
FSF US takes street to protest Vista DRM
At Seattle’s WinHEC conference yesterday, activists of the Free Software Foundations "Defective by Design"-campaign informed attendees about the dangers of Digital Restrictions Management (DRM), just as Bill Gates was about to give a keynote speech on the new Windows Vista’s DRM features and Microsoft’s future. From FSF’s article about the campaign: "In any other industry, Read more »
BSA lies its way through “Global Piracy Study”
The Business Software Alliance (BSA) has published the latest edition of its "Global Piracy Study". Here it claims that proprietary software makers have lost US$ 1.8 bn due to piracy in the UK alone last year. This is bunk, and they know it, as The Register notes: It’s hard to say how many instances of Read more »
Run-up to Yale A2K conference
Today I arrived in New Haven, CT, USA, where I will be attending the Yale Access to Knowledge conference. The schedule promises very interesting panels and discussions. I am excited about the opportunity to personally meet some of the most forward-thinking people in copyright and patent reform. On Sunday, I will be moderating a panel Read more »